Sasha Mitchell is Dogwood’s new Operations Coordinator! What does that mean? It means that our well-oiled machine is only as well-oiled as Sasha keeps it, and in the mere few months that Sasha has been with us, our machine is running better than ever!
Sasha moved to Asheville six years ago. A transplant from New Jersey, you can still hear the faint Northern Accent in her voice, but she has all the warmth and hospitality that would allow you to mistake her for a natural born Southerner. She has brought that warmth and bright spirit to us at Dogwood. Our meetings now come with fresh fruit and muffins, and in her office hangs a brightly colored tapestry that she made herself, depicting Frida Kahlo and flowers of red and orange. She is always happy to see you and always happy to answer any question you might have.
Sasha originally read about Asheville and loved it so much that it was not long before she was living here with her husband, three sons, dog, cat and lizard. Sasha and her husband are also foster parents and are currently caring for an 11-month-old baby girl. Sasha loves the forests and being outside.
With starting a new job and a full house at home, it sounds like Sasha has a full plate, but that’s not all…
In addition to running the ins-and-outs of Dogwood Alliance, Sasha also founded the website Color of Asheville. Before coming to Dogwood, Sasha was a stay-at-home mom self-employed as a professional organizer and family historian. After moving to Asheville and researching for clients, she learned about the YMI Cultural Center (one of the earliest African American cultural centers in the country) and the business district. She says,
All this history started accumulating in my house and in my computer. It kept coming up, ‘Oh! We should have a Black business directory; people need to know this!’ I have a really strong grasp of the history here, just from doing so much research over the years, so now I’m the chair of the African American Heritage Commission.
As we get to know Sasha, it’s like pulling a scarf out of a magician’s sleeve; there’s no end to what she knows and can do!
Her sons who are 17, 14 and 12 are cosplay enthusiasts. Even though Sasha isn’t herself a cosplayer, she is a very accomplished seamstress and has made all of their costumes for years. She says, “We were in Nintendo Power Magazine because the whole family was dressed up as Super Mario Brothers.”
On being at Dogwood, Sasha says, “I love it here. I feel like I’m a part of people doing really good work in the community.” Sasha used to work in the corporate world, but didn’t feel right there. She explains, “I felt like I was trading off too much and not getting much back from it. Here I work in administrative tasks, but I feel like I’m contributing to something that’s really important to me, so that gives me a really good feeling.” She adds,
“I feel a great responsibility to do my job well.”
All of us at Dogwood feel very happy and excited to have Sasha on the team!
